Inflatable splint



Feb- 18, 1958 c. P. VAN couRT Erm. 2,823,668

INFLATABLE sPL'INT Filed Oct. 12, 1953 an e mwnmkfm meme WMKN.. J.,

com.

Anm

CHCM WV NFLATABLE sPLrNT Carl P. Van Court, North Hollywood, Harold E.Kinsman, Beverly Hills, and Clawson N. Skinner, Whittier, Calif.

Application October 12, v1953, Serial No. 385,522 2 Claims. (Cl. '12S-87) This invention relates to splints and is particularly directed to anall-purpose splint capable of being readily adapted to a portion of apersons body for supporting such portion in a; set position, eithertemporarily, or for such time as is required for complete healing.

Various types of splints are well known varying simply from a pair ofwooden sticks to complicated plaster casts. In the case of broken bones,Particularly during wartime or in other emergency situations, it iscustomary to set the bones with a temporary splint, usually in the formof a pair of stiilening members bound to the tissue area involved. Assoon as the patient has been moved Vto a temporary field hospital orcentralized medical center,

the broken bones may be reset if necessary, and a suitable castAfabricated from plaster of Paris to support the bones in their finallyset position until healing is effected. Some bone fractures may takeseveral months to heal, and in such cases, periodic inspections areusually required. This means the destroying of the plaster cast in orderkto remove it and thefabrication of a new cast. One object of thepresent invention is to provide an all-purpose splint which may beapplied in the field as a temporary measure, or may be employed as apermanent cast to replace the present plaster of Paris type cast.

Another Objectis to provied a splint of the above type which may beeasily removed to facilitate inspection of rthe tissue area involved.

In the applicationof temporary splints, or in the fabrication ofpermanent casts, little attention has been paid in the past toestablishing maximum comfort to the patient. Forvexample, not only arethe plaster of Paris casts extremely bulky and cumbersome, but due totheir massive rstructures and resulting insulating properties, there' islittle provision for proper sterilization and ventilation. Thus,consequent sweating, heat rashes, and analogous discomforts can easilydevelop. Furthermore, because of the inllexibility of the cast, certainportions of the tissue area surrounded by the cast are liable to besubjected Yto greater pressures than other portions resulting in unduediscomfort and possible soreness to the patient.

Accordingly, another object of the invention is to provide a splintwhich is extremely light in weight, may be 'easily kept sterile, andwhich incorporates means for insuring maximum ventilation and comfort tothe patient.

In the mending of broken bones, it is often necessary to apply a tensionto portions of the injured area. This is conventionally accomplished bymeans of traction attachments necessitating, in some instances, theboring ofa hole `or holes through a patients bone in order to secure asuitable traction cable thereto. This operation is not only painful andirritating to the patient, but is also costly and time consuming.

2,823,668 Patented Feb. 18, 1958 ICC traction attachments to be appliedthereto, rather than to the bone structure.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a splint which is readilyadaptable to all limbs, is easily applied andy removed, and which isportable, the complete splint being capable of being packed in anordinary field pack, thus making the invention highly valuable duringwar time.

In our copending application, Serial No. 377,382, tiled August 3l, 1953,for Method of Making Impressions for Prosthesis, there is disclosed amethod and apparatus for making impressions of a portion of a personstissue area for adapting artificial appliances. The finally fabricatedartiicial appliances made in accordance with such impressions are incomplete harmony with the physiologic pressure of the tissue area towhich the appliance is tted. Maximum comfort to the patient is thereforeassured since each portion of the artificial appliance in contact withthe tissue is under a pressure in substantial harmony with thephysiologic pressure of the tissue area involved.

Some of the principles set forth in the above-referred to copendingapplication are taken advantage of in the present invention. Morespecilically, the various objects and advantages of the invention areattained by providing a splint which is adapted to support a portion ofa person-s body in a set position, with a substantially uniform pressureover the entire covered portion, which pressure is controlled tocorrespond substantially to the physiologic pressure of the tissue areaof the portion.

The preferred form of splint for the above purpose comprises a wrappingincorporating a flexible fluid chamber, adapted to be placed around thebroken bone area. The flexible fluid chamber is then inflated under apressure corresponding substantially to the physiologic pressure of thetissue about which the splint is wrapped. Suitable stiffening membersare employed, where necessary, to render the splint rigid in onedimension while not affecting its flexibility in another. Because of thenature of the flexible iluid chamber, the contact pressure of the splintover the entire brokenbone area will be substantially equal at allpoints and will preferably correspond to the referred to physiologicpressure. The result is that the patient is hardly aware that he iswearing a splint. In other words, the maximum possible comfort availableto the patient is secured.

A better understanding of the invention and its additional objects andadvantages will be had by referring to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Figure l is a general perspective view showing the splint of the presentinvention in position on a persons forearm;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the stiffening means of the splint inunwrapped position;

Figure 3 is a cross-section taken along the line 3--3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is aplan view of the pressure-controlled, iluid chamber systemin unwrapped position; and

Figure 5 is a cross-section taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Referring to Figure 1, the splint is designated generally by numeral 10,and for purposes of illustration, is shown applied to a persons arm 11.The splint itself is preferably formed of an outer wrapping 12 placedabout a wrapper 13 carrying a flexible fluid chamber. The wrapper 13 isin turn placed about a gauze or cloth wrapper 14 applied to the tissuearea of the persons arm. Portions of one side edge Iof the outer wrapper12 may be provided with fastenings 15 adapted to lit through openings 16in the other side edge of the wrapper, for securing the splint to thepatients arm. By the use of several openings 16 aligned as shown, or byother suitable ad-v justing methods, the wrapping may be approximatelyadjusted to the size of the individuals limb.

As shown in greater detail in Figures 2 and 3, the outer wrapping 12 maycomprise a suitable flexible material within which there is secured aplurality of stays 17 in the form of elongated strips of metal, forexample. These stays are arranged in generally parallel relationshipwhereby the wrapper is rendered stiff in one dimension while stillremaining flexible in its other dimension. To retain the stays inposition, an additional strip of cloth C may overlap the stays and besewn along longitudinal edges to the material 12. The stays may beremoved by sliding them out the ends of the overlapping cloth.

Opposite sides of the wrapper 12 are provided with hooks 18 to whichtraction equipment may be axed.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, the wrapper 13 may comprise a doublelayer of material dening a series of flexible fluid chambers 19 dividedinto elongated enclosures by cementing, heat sealing, or otherwiseaflixing portions of the chamber-dening walls together as at I 20. Itwill be noted that the chamber walls are left open at their upper andlower ends, as at 21, whereby all of the elongated uid chambers are inuid communication with each other. A stern 22 is provided at one cornerof the wrapper 13 communicating with the flexible fluid chambers andconnects to a flexible tube 23 for introducing Huid. As shown, theflexible tube 23 branches into tubes 24 and 25, connected to a pressuregauge 26 and a pressure bulb 27, respectively. The bulb 27 may beprovided with a check valve 28 communicating with the atmosphere toadmit air into the bulb whereby successive squeezings of the bulb willforce the air into the flexible uid chambers 19.

As shown more clearly in Figure 5, the wrapper 13 comprises two layers29 and 30 of iiexible material suitably sealed about its periphery andincluding the further sealed portions 20. The material is such that itis perfectly flexible, but preferably will not stretch, whereby thepressure within the chamber will not depend upon the elastic propertiesof the material but only on the pressure of the fluid pumped thereintoas determined by gauge 26.

It will be apparent from the above arrangement that the pressure offluid pumped into the flexible fluid cham bers may be adjusted to anydesired value. Furthermore, it is to be noted that when the wrappers 13and 12 are in postion on the persons arm, such as shown in Figure l,application of pressure to the uid chamber will result in an absolutelyuniform pressure about the entire contact area covered by the splint.

Operation In applying the splint, after the broken bones have beenpreliminarily set, the patients arm, for example, is rst covered with asuitable gauze or cloth material which may simply be wrapped around thearm and frictionally retained in position. Next, the wrapper 13 isplaced around the gauze or cloth to encircle the persons arm, theilexible fluid chambers 19 being in collapsed condition. The outerwrapper 12 is then placed about the wrapper 13, the stiffening stays 17serving to rigidly support the various wrappings in the longitudinaldirection of the persons arm. The outer wrapping 12 is secured to itselfas by means of the fastening means inserted in suitable holes 16.

The pressure-applying bulb 27 is then pumped to inilate the fluidchambers 19 which, due to their interconnections will cause a uniformpressure to be exerted on the entire contact portion of the persons armembraced bythe splint. This pressure, as indicated by gauge 26, ispreferably made to correspond substantially to the physiologic pressureof the tissue area covered. This physiologic pressure of the tissuearea, as pointed out in lthe referredato copending application, isdifferent at different parts of a persons body, and may readily bedetermined by normal blood pressure-taking methods. In

cases, however, where the requirements of pressure are greater or lessthan the vascular pressures, such pressures may be readily attained bypumping in or releasing the fluid from the chamber.

With the flexible fluid chambers inflated to the proper pressure, thepersons arm will be uniformly supported over its entire area, thecemented portions 20 between the various fluid chambers permittingVentilating passages to be formed between the fluid chambers.

It is to be emphasized that because of the absolutely uniformapplication of pressure over the entire tissue area, the Isplint willsupport the set bones with the maximum possible comfort to the patient.It should also be noted, that throughout stages of the healing, thepressure within the fluid chambers may be changed in accordance withnormal changes in the physiologic pressure of the tissue area.

Because of the fact that there is uniform pressure at every point ofcontact between the splint and the persons arm, the splint itself willbe held with considerable frictional force and thus the use of thetraction hooks 18 will not result in the sliding of the splint along thepersons arm. Further, anyV traction force will be uniformly distributedover the entire tissue area, in View of the fact that the flexible fluidchamber is in contact therewith and automatically adjusts itself tomaintain such contact pressure uniform.

While the invention has been illustrated in connection with setting apersons arm, it is, of course, to be understood that the splint may beutilized on any portion of a persons body, such as the neck, back, hips,etc. Furthermore, changes in the geometry of the splint may be effectedfor particularly difficult adaptations. The stays may themselves beformed `of two telescoping tubes or sliding members, whereby theirlength may be adjusted individually, such that top or side portions maybe suitably stiffened, while permitting other portions to be relativelyiiexible.

ln addition, it is feasible to employ stays which may be angulated orarticulated at intermediate points to permit joint movements by thepatient. Further, some of the uid chambers may be isolated from theothers whereby greater or lesser pressures may be applied to certainportions of the tissue area than are applied to other portions. Theinvention also nds useful application in providing uniform pressure toybandages covering severe burns, an extremely important factor in thetreatment of such burns. Also, it will be evident that the splint mayVbe used for the reduction of fractures and in orthopedic treatments inconnection with extensions of the skeleton.

It will be evident from the above description that the splint of thepresent invention has a wide range of applications, is extremely simpleto apply, remove for inspection, sterilize, and will provide the patientwith maximum comfort during healing of the injured area. The inventionis therefore not to be thought of as limited to the particularembodiment disclosed for illustrative purposes.

We claim:

l. A splint for supporting a portion of the body comprising: a flexibleand easily deformed inner wrapper of a size to be placed over said bodyportion and having a series of elongated uid chambers therein arrangedin substantially parallel relationship and interconnected for lluidcommunication; means connected to said Wrapper for introducing fluidinto said chamber; a fluidbody in said chambers under a controlledpressure corresponding substantially to the physiologic pressure of thetissue in the body portion; a separate outer wrapper adapted to overlaysaid inner wrapper, said outer wrapper having a plurality of spacedparallel stays therein rendering said outer wrapper substantially rigidin one direction; and means mounted on said outer wrapper for tighteningsaid wrapper around said inner wrapper to hold said lluid chamberagainst outward deformation while allowing free relative adjustment ofsaid chambers inwardly to conform to the natural shape of said bodyportion and exert a uniform pressure thereagainst.

2. A splint for supporting a portion of the body cornprising: a exibleand easily deformed inner wrapper of an area adapted to encircle andcover said body portion and having a series of elongated fluid chamberstherein arranged in substantially parallel relationship and extendinglongitudinally and perpendicular to the circumferential dimension ofsaid wrapper and interconnected for uid communication; means connectedto said wrapper for introducing fluid into said chambers; a fluid-bodyin said chambers under a pressure corresponding substantially to thephysiologic pressure of the tissue in the body portion; a separate outerwrapper adapted to enclose said inner wrapper and being exible forcircumferential bending and relatively inelastic, said outer wrapperhaving a plurality of pockets therein extending 1ongitudinally; rigidstays removably mounted in said pockets and holding said outer wrapperagainst longitudinal bending; and means mounted on said outer wrapperfor tightening said wrapper around said inner wrapper to hold said fluidchamber against outward deformation while allowing free relativeadjustment of said chambers inwardly to conform to the natural shape ofsaid body portion and exert a uniform pressure thereagainst.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 653,179Hughes July 3, 1900 1,916,789 Fordham July 4, 1933 2,028,060 GilbertIan. 14, 1936 2,104,758 Poppen Jan. 11, 1938 2,651,302 Berry Sept. 8,1953

